


Philosopher's Travels

by LiteratureWork



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Ending, Crossover, Gen, I dont' know where this is going, Superheros, failed promise day, post promise day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:47:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23899249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiteratureWork/pseuds/LiteratureWork
Summary: They failed to stop the Promised Day, only delay it. With Father's plans ruined he takes his sacrifices to start over in a new country, a new city, and with a new unexpecting population of people. What will Jump City's finest heroes do when they find out their home is the next ingredient for the philosopher's stone?
Relationships: who knows - Relationship
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	1. The Kid in the Sewers

**Author's Note:**

> Philosopher's Travels was originally my first crossover attempt ever. I wrote it after FMA 2003 and you can read the original version on ff.net. Again this was made nearly 7 years ago. I had made plans to redo it with the brotherhood version and now it looks absolutely nothing like the original. Like if you put these stories side by side they would be apples and oranges. The only similarity is that they are fruit of my labor. I found a short draft of this version on my old old old ipad (like I cannot emphasize how old this is) and decided I might dabble in it. I don't know where this will go if it will go anywhere, but here it is. My two favorite shows from my childhood. Enjoy.

Philosopher’s Travels

Chapter One

The Kid in the Sewers

The room was impenetrable. He had figured it out long ago after many failed attempts of escape. The only thing that would pass through that door was the light that slipped through the cracks from the other side. But even that barely made it through. It was not encouraging, to say the least. Edward looked up at the dark cement walls that surrounded him. Chains shifted and clanked with him as he moved. It was a terrible racket in an otherwise quiet domain. His wrists were unkindly shoved into every stock and restraint his captors thought possible. Transmutation was all impossible. He was never getting out of there on his own accord.

Edward closed his eyes and propped his tired and bruised head against the grimy wall. He winced as a sharp pain radiated from where his head had taken one too many blows. He had a concussion, he thought. At least that would have been the best-case scenario. Even the dim light sent his mind reeling in pain. Though having a small amount of light was a nice thought as opposed to pitch darkness, it might have just been better if it did not exist at all.

This was day seventy-two if he counted correctly. Time was so hard to tell when there were not clocks and the only source of light was artificial. Something in his mind feared that it had been longer. Maybe it was months, maybe it was a year. However, he was forced to convince himself that he was right. It was seventy-two days. It had to be. It was the only thing he had to hold onto there. If he lost track of time, the following weeks he would be stuck there might as well just be one long endless night in hell. It was seventy-two.

It was seventy-two days since their failure to stop Father and the Homunculi. The war that had raged on in the capital and all of the blood that was spilt with it only managed to delay the Homunculis’ plans, not defeat them. The Promised Day had gone and passed. Amestris was safe for now, but Father was still alive and so were his sons. An army against five fully grown homunculi could never be enough and they had been so stupid to try and take them down at once. Father had to start over with his plan exposed and the solar eclipse over with. He wasn’t going to simply try again. He was starting anew. He gave up on Amestris completely and was now preying on another country with a new population of unexpecting people. The only thing the man kept from his failure was the human sacrifices. After being brutally defeated, they were taken away from their friends and family. They were transported for weeks until Edward somehow woke up in this dark disgusting place. He didn’t know where he was, but he knew he had to be very far away from home.

Father could not keep all five of them together. Hohenheim, being his own immortal philosopher’s stone, was too dangerous to be kept chained up. He was left behind and so was Izumi. Their teacher was a homunculus killing machine. She was the only one who could take out a homunculus single handed, and Father could not risk another threat to his family. There were only four of them left now; Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, and Envy. It was not worth it to waste time trying to subdue two sacrifices with the strength of ten armies. When the time was right, they would come crawling back to save the day. It was in their nature and Father was playing for that.

Only Roy, Alphonse, and Edward himself remained. They were the easiest to control and contain and Father was not taking any chances letting them roam free like before. Roy was now blind. Edward had to make his best guess and say that they probably just shoved him in a broom closet somewhere. Without being able to see there was no way to know where he was. If he tried to transmute something he could very well collapse the whole place on top of himself. He was even more useless than when he was wet. Edward and Alphonse on the other hand were not as helpless as the Colonel however neither one of them would do anything if it meant harm to the other. Edward did not even know where his brother was in the labyrinth of concrete. He worried for him and upon his first few escape attempts had run around in circles trying to find him. It ended horribly. After his most recent attempt for freedom, which he was still feeling the physical backlash of, the homunculi took to reminding him that they could simply make a new sacrifice in lieu of his brother should he step out of line. Making the Colonel open the gate took a hefty toll on Pride. One would have thought them to be suicidal to try to do so again. However, by the tone in their voice Edward knew they were not bluffing.

A huge fire ignited in Edward’s head and he let out a weak grunt. His entire body was sore and filled with the worse pain he had felt in ages. He tried to make his movements as deliberate as possible to avoid anymore discomfort but it had been hours and he could not bring himself to move even another inch to simply lay down. There was a scoff in the corner of the room and Edward cracked an eye open. An ugly little lizard was camped out by the door of the cement prison. He was a merciless guard and Edward had recently gotten another taste of how brutal he could become when his captive tried to leave. He probably would have been dead if Father had not come and healed him at least minimally after that encounter. It had been nearly two weeks, from what he had counted, but he was still feeling the backlash.

“You really are weak, giving up so easily,” the squeaky voice of the lizard chided. It crawled down from the wall it was pirched on and quickly began to morph. Within a blink of his eye, the homunculus had transformed into a near human shape. It was his favorite form. Edward frowned and closed his eyes again, resting his head back against the wall.

“Just weighing my options.”

“Your options are to act like a good little pipsqueak or have your little tin can of a brother get it.”

“I am assuming Pride has him chained up?” Edward muttered. “He’s the only one of you guys who can really stop Alphonse.”

“Are you thinking of playing hero again and try and save him? That worked out so well the last few times.”

“No, I was thinking about how pathetic you probably would be in a fight against my little brother.” There was a shuffle as footsteps approached him and Edward opened his eyes just intime to see a fist fly into his jaw. Stars blinded him and he cursed as he felt his jaw crack back in place. Envy grinned. He was only satisfied when someone of lesser standing was lowered even more.

“How about now? I can continue to show you how strong I am if you would like,” the homunculus chuckled eagerly. He was a psychopath.

“I’m not playing this game with you,” Edward sniped having learned his lesson the first day he was there. Envy had gone too far more times than he could count. The nearly had to make a new sacrifice anyways because he was nearly beaten to a shapeless pulp. Edward did not want to go through that again. The homunculus frowned as he realized his amusement was over.

“Tch. You’re no fun.” The thing shifted back into its smaller form and crawled back into the corner it had came from. Edward found himself letting out a stale breath as they were plunged back into silence. He wondered how everyone else was doing. He missed his brother more than ever and wished that he was doing alright. With his brother in mind, he bit the bullet and stretched his automail leg out in front of him. Searing pain jolted up his spine but faded after he sorely resituated himself on the rather unforgiving cement floor. After a moment there was a knock on the metal door and Envy opened it. Light flooded the room and blinded him. Edward buried his head into his arm to get away from it.

“Father wants us, “ he heard the strict voice of the Fuhrer come out.

“Of course he does. Everyone?”

"Yes. Now come.” Edward heard the door slam shut. With the bolt and lock clicked into place, all was silent once again.

Edward didn’t know how long he had drifted off for. It could have been a few minutes or even hours but he was suddenly startled awake by a low rumble. The ground shook beneath him and Edward lifted his head off of the floor.

Thwump, thwump, thwump, Crash!

He heard the rhythmic sound shudder the ground beneath him. Edward looked around wondering where it came from. That was the first thing he had really heard from that room since he was put in there.

Thwump, thwump, thwump, Crash!

It seemed to be coming from his right. Edward slowly and gently sat up to avoid jarring his injuries and listened closer. The noise was repetitive and slowly getting louder. The more Edward listened, the more he thought they sounded something similar to footsteps but as if the person was running with cement shoes.

Thwump, thwump, thwump, Crash! Thwump, Thwump, THWUMP, CRASH! THWUMP, THWUMP, THWUMP, CRASH!

Edward realized too late that they were heading straight towards him. After another three consecutive steps, there was a ear tearing bang and the impenetrable cement wall to his right shattered like glass. Rock and rubble rained down on top of him and Edward screamed as he curled up and did his best to protect himself. A huge chunk of cement crashed into him and sent him tumbling across the room. His head collided into the hard ground and his vision went black for several horrible seconds. He could only feel pain and the only thing he could hear was the terrifyingly heavy footsteps that ran past him. Whatever force it was had cleared the room in one stride and Edward heard the opposite wall crumble and shatter as it was plowed through. More rock fell and mixed into the chaos. Unfamiliar voices lifted Edward out of the darkness as his vision blurred with the dusty haze of the destruction.

Edward forced himself to sit up through the firey pain. His ribs ached and his head spun around but he swallowed his hurt and pushed himself forward. He had to get out of there. He crawled over the rubble towards the broken walls. The shattered chains of his restraints weighed him down like anchors. He pushed himself over another crevice just to feel a jolt as one of the chains staged on the rubble. Edward blindly tugged and pulled at the chains. Whatever energy he thought he had left in his body was gone. There was a loud clatter as his body collapsed from beneath him and his automail hit the ground. His mind spun out of control and started to reside towards the clouded darkness. He felt tears sting his eyes as the panic overwhelmed him. He could not let it end like this. The voices he heard raised and he started to hear light footsteps run closer.

“Cinderblock is destroying half of the underground. If he continues at this rate the whole city will collapse. We need to stop him!” a commanding voice echoed out. Edward saw a dark blur run past through the haze.

“Robin, I think we know that!” More people moved one by one past him not even knowing he was there. Edward struggled to open his mouth. He needed to call out to them. He choked on his words. His voice was cracked and dry. He watched as the shadows passed and carried his hope of salvation with them. He tried to push himself up once more but his body roared in pain and a small whimpering cry left his mouth. It was barely louder than a single breath but he heard a set of feet pause.

“Wait, what was that?” a young voice questioned. Every sound in the room froze.

“Beastboy, what was what? No one’s down here.” Edward heard someone walk around the room. Padded footsteps walked around the rubble and something was suddenly looming over him. He felt a wet nose of a dog press into his head and he flinched at the cool feeling.

“Robin! There’s a person here! He’s hurt!” he heard a boy cry above him. There was a squeak and a couple gasps as more people gathered around. Words and sentences blurred in Edward’s mind and the ground beneath him began to spin. Edward closed his eyes wanting it to stop. He felt someone pick him up and a calm voice called out to him but he was already lost to the rolling darkness.

…….

“Robin, calm down,” Starfire scolded him as he paced around the window to the tower’s emergency war. He had been doing this for hours ever since they had delivered the stranger into its care. The boy was brutally beaten and everyone knew it wasn’t just form Cinderblock’s destruction. Raven had told them all that the kid would be alright but it wasn’t good. Several broken bones, bruising, internal bleeding, and a major concussion. He would survive but it was going to take a lot of work to put him back together. Starfire set a reassuring hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down.

“It will be alright. We found him in time-“

“Haven’t you considered the fact that this person could probably be dangerous?” Robin cut her off. “He was chained to the wall for some reason. He has those strange limbs. What if they’re weapons?”

“Cyborg is looking through them right now to see if they are a danger. We don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Even if he is as dangerous as you think, he’s not going to get far without an arm and a leg,” Beastboy commented as he walked out of the emergency room with a small game console in his hand. Raven couldn’t heal the boy all on her own with her powers and needed help. Starfire had originally offered but she didn’t have knowledge of any creature’s anatomy with less than two stomachs. Raven didn’t like the idea that they had their youngest and admittingly most clumsy team member working in the ward with her but it was the only logical choice. They didn’t know much of Beast boy’s story as the goofball didn’t like to sit in a serious conversation for long but they understood that he had grown up with scientists and veterinarians as parents. He said they had often went on expeditions around the world and would help local animals or villagers they passed. At least before his accident. Though he was young at the time, it had amazed all of them that his rather unreliable and extraordinary brain retained some basic medical skills.

Beast boy looked through the two way mirror that opened into the room that the unnamed boy was held. The kid was lying completely unconscious with several tubes of different medicines hanging out of his only arm. He was nearly as pale as the white sheets he was resting on. The only shot of color in the room was his golden hair. Though he was stabilized, they were keeping heavy watch on him incase he would wake up. Beast boy looked worried, which was something that was truly hard to do. Robin was used to the kid attempting to at least laugh off some of the grief he felt when times were tough. He seemed unable to do it here. Beast boy was the one who found the boy. His animal like hearing and sense of smell had led to the kid’s discovery even beneath all the rubble. If he wasn’t there, if Cinderblock had never crashed through the underground that day, they probably never would have found him. Robin didn’t know yet if that was a good or bad.

“Did you find anything on who he is yet?” Beast boy asked him and Robin shook his head.

“The DNA sample you gave us came up with nothing. He isn’t in any of the data bases we know of. We couldn’t even find mentions of a missing person that fit his description.”

“Maybe he’s an alien.”

“No, this boy is from Earth. I know it,” Starfire said. “He doesn’t have the fierce unceasing strength of my people nor the horns of a Betelgeuse. The shapeshifters like the Hunters also would not be able to hold their form in his state.” Both Beast boy and Robin had no clue what she was talking about but they took her word for it. The kid had to be human. Silence fell over them as they all watched the strange kid lay helplessly on the bed. The slow rise and fall of his chest was reassuring to most of them. Not to Robin.

“Why are you always so uptight about things?” Beast Boy complained as Robin began pacing again. “It took us forever to convince you to let us treat him in the medical ward. He probably could have died in that time.”

“We could have taken him to the hospital,” Robin tried to make an excuse but Beast boy picked up a lie before it was even said.

“The hospital can’t do what Raven can,” he retorted. “What don’t you like about him?”

“I don’t know Beast Boy. He isn’t even awake yet there is something about him that I don’t like. Can’t you feel it with your animal instincts or something? You need to believe me that there is something bigger going on beyond finding someone in the sewers. And it has to do with him.” Beast boy sighed and looked back at their new patient for a few moments to contemplate what he said. After a few moments he shook his head.

“I don’t feel it, Robin. Something is definitely off about the entire situation, but I don’t feel like its coming from him,” he admitted. Roy wasn’t satisfied with his answer. Starfire let out an obnoxious yawn and clearly set her point across that it was getting late.

“I think we should all be punching the straw-“

“Hitting the hay, Star-“

“Getting some rest,” she said instead as she gave up on Earthly sayings. “Beating Cinderblock isn’t something to be taken lightly.”

“Considering the fact that he is a big block of pummeling rock, I don’t think there is a way he really could be taken lightly,” Beastboy said as he stifled a yawn of his own. They checked their watches and saw that it was nearly two in the morning. Starfire was not exaggerating when she said it was getting late. The two of them started to trudge off down the hall towards their respective rooms.

“Wait,” Robin called out stopping the two of them in their tracks. “Who is going to look after the kid?”

“He will be alright by himself. We have him hooked up to monitors that will tell us incase something goes south. Leave him be,” Beast boy brushed him off before stumbling down the hall. Starfire stepped next to him and none too gently began to coax him to get some rest.

“Robin, you need to sleep to. You can’t get the answers you seek until the boy wakes up,” she said as she shoved him towards his own room. He staggered to catch his balance as she had forgotten her strength. He opened his mouth to argue but a yawn of his own escaped him. He hadn’t even realized he was that tired as he didn’t yet want to leave his post.

“Robin please,” Starfire continued as she saw his hesitation. “Raven is an early riser. She will be up to check on him in the morning.” After giving the room one last glance, Robin reluctantly followed his team mate away from the hospital ward.


	2. Awake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward wakes up... kind of.

Philosopher’s Travels

Chapter Two

Awake

Edward groaned as he tried to open his eyes. The light was burning him. It was brighter than it had ever been before and his headache reeled in his head. Where was it coming from? He draped his arm over his eyes to shield them. His eyes cracked and slowly fluttered open. He batted the light away as he adjusted himself to the outside world. His vision was blurred. Combining that fact with his headache and the sickening feeling he had in his stomach, he had to guess he was concussed. Through some concentration he looked up at the ceiling and was able to see patterned fluorescent lights hanging above him. It wasn’t concrete. Edward’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and blinked thinking that it would go away if he just focused but the lights remained. He turned his groggy head down and noticed that he wasn’t laying on a hard cement floor but rather a soft white bed.

“Huh,” he muttered and rubbed the fabric between his fingers in thought. It had been a long time since he felt something that soft. After a few seconds he stopped. There was a loud beep next to him making him wince as his headache was sent reeling. He glanced over and saw large monitors next to him. This had to be a hospital. Edward looked himself over. His automail was gone and several bandages covered his head, torso, and arm. His wrist was wrapped in soft white cotton where the shackles had previously cut into his skin. He was not shackled anymore. He felt a small smile slowly creep onto his face. If this was really a hospital then that meant he escaped. He was no longer in that cement prison. He was free.

“Al, we’re-“ Edward exclaimed as he turned next to him but stopped when he realized the room was empty. No. Alphonse wasn’t there with him. He froze as he realized that he was by himself. Alphonse and the Colonel were probably still in the hands of Father and the homunculi. Dread washed over him as he remembered the threat the homunculi gave him should he have tried to escape again. The would make a replacement sacrifice for Alphonse. They were going to kill him. Edward tried to rationalize that it was an accident. Whatever happened to cause the room to collapse was an accident. It was not like he meant to leave. The homunculi probably would not think there was a difference. He needed to get back and find his brother.

Edward grabbed a hold of the assist railing on the side of his bed and pulled himself up. A wave of nausea fell over him and suddenly he was doubled over heaving bile onto the clean tiled floors. He was sent gasping for air and collapsed back down in his bed to try and calm his reeling head. Yes. He was concussed.

“Damn it!” Edward cursed. He needed to get back to his brother. Who knew what the homunculi were doing to him? He was an idiot to leave on his own. He tried to get up again and his breath caught in his throat like his ribs were trying to suffocate him. Gritting his teeth, he pushed through and kicked his leg over the side of the bed. Just as he was about to push himself up the doors to the room whooshed open. There was a dark blur and Edward looked up to see someone racing over to him. His mind, groggy and slow, barely had time to register they were there before he felt them pushing him back down into the bed.

“Lay down. You got a terrible concussion. You shouldn’t be up,” she ordered.

“You don’t think I know that?” Edward gasped as he swatted her angrily away from him. He shoved past her and quickly stood up but his balance was nonexistent. His body collapsed out from under him. The only thing that stopped him from smacking his face off the ground was the arms that caught him on his way down. Staring at the ground he realized just how helpless he really was. Without his automail he would never make it back to the underground by himself. His roaring headache made it hard to even keep his balance let alone thing straight. Who was he to think that he could just run back down to save his brother? Tears struck his eyes.

“No. No, no, no!” he whined as the girl struggled to set him back up on the bed. He was not going to accept this. “Where-Where the hell is my automail?”

“You need to rest. Your arm and leg are safe with our mechanic,” she said as she began to push him back down into a laying position, but he didn’t move. He wouldn’t. People were in danger and she was not listening to him! He angrily grabbed a hold of her sweater and pulled her down closer to him.

“Where is my automail? They are still down there!” he growled at her, but to him it was more like begging. He needed them. “I-I need to find my brother. H-He’s still down there. I need to go!” He felt himself become more hysterical by the second. The terror that filled him was not mixing well with the jumbled mess of this thoughts. His head pounded and even her reassuring words brought him pain. “No! I need to save them!” he cried.

“Let go of her!” Edward looked up to see the blurred shadow of a boy rip his hands away from her and shove him back down on the bed. A wave of nausea over came him and he rolled over to empty his stomach over the edge of the bed. Bile burnt his throat and brought tears to his eyes. The boy continued to berate him even as he hung uselessly over the assist railing.

“If you touch her or another one of my friends ever again, it will be my pleasure to put you back in your place!” the kid hissed.

“Robin, he’s panicking!”

“He attacked you!”

“You don’t understand!” Edward breathed shakily. “I need to go back! Everyone is in danger! Mustang and my brother, they are still down there! I need to get them. The city, everyone, they’re gonna-“ Edward was cut off as he felt a cool pair of hands set on the side of his head. His eyes widened as he turned to see the girl standing over him. Her eyes glowed a pure silver. His heart was struck with fear as a similar light started to emit out of her hands. The coolness felt like it was seeping down into his mind. Edward wanted to pull away but his entire body was frozen in fear. He couldn’t move. He felt his mind start to settle down and his nausea dissipated into nothing. His vision started to blur again and he knew he was going to pass out.

“Calm down, we will help you,” he heard a soothing voice say inside his own mind, but it wasn’t his own. He felt his body go limp and suddenly all of his lights burnt out.

……………….

Raven lifted the kid back into the hospital bed with a simple wave of her hand. The boy had been in a fear induced panic. With a huge concussion and no prostheses, he wasn’t going to get far. Before he could hurt himself any further, she had tried to calm him down using a healing mind trick she learned. Unfortunately, she only ended up knocking him out instead. Maybe it was for the better. He might be calmer when he woke up again and maybe Robin wouldn’t be there to frighten him further.

“Robin, I had this handled,” she scolded him as she finished tucking their only patient in.

“Again, he was attacking you-“

“He was panicking. Under the circumstances I was expecting it. I was trying to calm him down before you showed up and sent him over the edge. He now probably thinks he’s the one being attacked,“ she berated him. “Besides, if he was hostile, do you think I, the offspring of a demon, can’t handle herself around a malnourished injured person who doesn’t even have all his limbs?” Robin crossed his arms and scoffed under his breath. She knew that he meant no offense by his actions but there was no need for them. Honestly, she did not know what Robin found so threatening about the kid. As far as she could tell, this kid’s aura was good if not a little strained. Obviously, the boy had gone through a lot but nothing could label him as a menace. She rolled her eyes. He was unbelievable. “So, what are we going to do?”

“About what?”

“He said something about more people being down there. We should help-“

“What if he is lying to us? What if this is all a trap?” Robin retorted but she gave him a threatening glare.

“Then those people who turn out to be real will die.” Robin was an overprotective idiot. He had been that way ever since the Titans were formed, but even so he knew where the line was. He was not the type of person to let other innocent people get hurt because of his stubbornness. He reluctantly pulled out his communicator and called up Cyborg and Starfire, both of which were probably enjoying their well-deserved rest. Raven heard their tired grumbles over the mic.

“Star, Cy, I need you to go out on a search and rescue mission. There are possibly two or more people still stuck in the underground. One goes by the name of Mustang. Cy, your scanners are able to pick up people down there right?”

“Yes,” Cyborg yawned tiredly through the communicator.

“Be careful you two. I don’t know what might be down there. Obviously, someone wanted to keep them down there. We don’t know who or what they are but friend or foe you need to be careful. Any sign of danger-“

“Robin, trust us. We can handle ourselves,” Starfire scolded him lightly. The two quickly signed off and Robin snapped his communicator shut with a huff before stuffing it back in his pocket. He sent Raven a rather displeased look as if he was blaming his bad attitude on her.

“There. Are you happy?” he grumbled. Raven rolled her eyes in disbelief and returned back to the unconscious patient without another word. She set her palms against the front and back of his head. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and focused all of her energy onto him. Her palms started to glow white and slowly she began to heal his concussion. Ever since they had found him she had been healing him on and off as much as she could. It was a lot of work and drained energy from both her and the patient. With how hurt he was, she could only do a little at a time to prevent him from collapsing. Still, every session left him a lot better than the last. After a few moments, the light in her hands dimmed and she took a step back. The kid was still asleep and all of the monitors still indicated that he was stable. At least that she could be thankful for.

“How is he?” Raven turned to see Beastboy stumble in half asleep. He had a cup of coffee in one hand and a black tea in the other. It was a rare occasion to see their green friend up before noon and it was obvious, he wished it could have stayed that way. “It’s hard to sleep while Cyborg’s damn communicator was sent ringing,” he explained as he handed her the mug of tea. It seems he had figured she would forget. Raven took it gratefully, feeling drained after her last healing session.

“I could only heal him a little bit right now. It drained too much energy from him. Especially in his state that is hard to come by.” Beast boy nodded his head like he understood how her powers worked. Everyone knew he didn’t.

“Sooooo, Robin,” he dragged on, “what did you send Cyborg out to do so early? You know he stayed up all night working on those metal limbs. Couldn’t you give him a break?”

“If you wanted to know I sent them on a rescue mission. The kid had woken up a few moments ago-“

“He what?” Beast boy spun around to look at their patient. “He woke up and you didn’t tell me? What did he say? What happened?” The green kid was practically jumping up and down in excitement. Raven shot Robin a look ordering him to explain.

“It was nothing,” Robin grumbled which immediately cut off the boy’s enthusiasm. “If he wakes up again, get me. I need to find out what is going on.” With that final order, Robin stormed off through the doors of the hospital ward and disappeared down the hallway. The two of them watched until the doors whisked shut behind him.

“Well, he’s just a jolly old thing, now ain’t he?” Beast boy growled sarcastically. “Why is he always like this? He’s acting like the kid is guilty before the even has a chance to realized what has happened. It’s like Robin has his staff shoved up his ass or something.”

“Maybe it is because this might dig deeper than just finding a kid in the sewers.”

“Like what? Finding two kids in the sewers? Come on…. Oh.” Raven rolled her eyes as Beast boy finally realized what the rescue mission was for. She knew he did not mean to be insensitive. His mouth just ran before his brain did, if only his brain ran at all.

“We don’t know what we are getting into and we don’t know if we are even on the right side of it or not. Who put the boy there and why are questions that must be answered. I don’t like how Robin is going about it but it needs to be done.” There was a long moment of silence between them and they began to mull about the emergency room doing their own things. She tapped the toggle switch on the monitor screen simply because there was nothing else to do. They were stuck there again watching over an unconscious patient. Raven wondered how much more she could have been doing with her day.

“It’s going to be a few more hours till I can try to heal him again,” she noted to Beastboy who was simply sitting there twiddling his thumbs. She could feel the guilt radiating off him. Beast boy was a talker. To hear nothing but a peep out of him meant something was bothering him. “How are his bandages?” she asked in hopes of giving him a distraction.

“You know already. You’ve been down here longer than I have,” he sighed but still got up to check them. “They won’t need to be changed for a while. The bruising has gone down since I sucked out the broken cells yesterday. Did you know how nasty it was for me to do that? He better be thankful.” Raven, after much, much thinking, had allowed him to use a little trick he learned to calm down the kid’s bruising. He had turned into a leech and drained all of the spreading blood from underneath the skin. She knew that they would all be hearing about it for the rest of the week how disgusting it was, but Beast boy should not have offered if he didn’t want to do it. Besides, it did help with the boy’s appearance. The discoloration had mostly faded from him. At least with that taken care of, Raven could focus her energies on his concussion.

“Damn, he’s got a lot of scars,” Beast boy muttered as he looked over the kid’s bare chest. Almost every terrible scar that the kid had was visible. It was not an understatement; he had a lot. His arm, side and face were all riddled with small white scrapes and cuts, some larger and deeper than the rest. They were like constellations in the night sky. Raven could only imagine how he got them, especially when he was probably no older than they were. “Do you think he got them all from the underground?”

“No. I don’t think he was there for too long, maybe only a few months at most judging by his malnourishment. These are old,” she told him softly. Beast boy winced slight as if that was only a more painful answer. She understood why her friend felt so connected with the unnamed patient. Beast boy did not like talking about where he came from. Most of the Titans did not. It took a lot of trust and even more a lot of courage to talk about the pains of the past. It took Raven till the end of the world to explain to her friends that Trigon was her father. Beast Boy did not have all that courage, at least not yet. Like their patient, Beast boy carried many scars of his own. From what Raven gathered over the years that they knew each other; he had spent several years of his life travelling through the abusive care of different people. Though they did not know much about their new patient, they could assume that he had a hard life like each one of theirs. With that, each one of them should be able to relate.

Raven did not know if it was a fool’s choice to let Beast boy grow attached to their new patient. After Beast boy was left devastated from the last person they invited into their home, Raven did not want to see him hurt again. She would have expected him to be more reserved around strangers. But she could tell, now more than ever, that he wanted optimism to be something safe to believe in. He was not a cynical person by heart and he probably felt some responsibility finding the kid in the sewers. For now, Raven thought, they should just let him be.

“Beast boy let out a tiny yawn and sank back down in his chair and kicked his feet up on the edge of the bed. He was in his pajamas with an overly baggy sweatshirt on and looked like he was about to fall asleep right there if he could. Letting out an even bigger yawn to follow up the first, the kid turned to her with a cocky grin on his face.

“I guess we are going to be here a while. I came prepared,” he chuckled as he pulled out a small game system he was always so fond of. “Why don’t you get your books or something? There isn’t much we can do until he wakes up… again.”


	3. What Needs to be Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward finally wakes up. Questions are asked and lines are crossed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing these chapters, I realize these are typically a lot smaller than those I normally write. It might be because I originally wrote the beginning draft several years ago when my writing style was drastically different. Oh well. Let's see where this goes.

Philosopher’s Travels

Chapter Three

What Needs to be Done

Edward heard the beeping of the monitors and knew instantly that he was still in the hospital. He had failed to help his brother. Hell, he had failed to even get out of his bed. Edward inhaled deeply as he tried to settle his mind before it went running again. It was still difficult to think but for some reason his concussion wasn’t as bad as he remembered it being. Maybe he could finally pull himself together now. Letting out his breath he slowly pushed down his fear and worry. Though he was still afraid for his brother and Mustang, he wouldn’t be able to do much for them if he let himself fall into hysteria again. He just had to stay calm.

Edward tried to crack his eyes open only to immediately snap them shut once the light flooded in. A whimper escaped him as his headache was sent reeling once more. God, it hurt so bad to even open his eyes! Just as he was considering his options on how to regain his vision, there was a clatter next to him.

“Holy smokes, dude, you’re awake! Sweet!” he heard an excited voice exclaim next to him. He heard footsteps come over to him and Edward furiously waved him away.

“Turn off the lights,” he whined. There was a small chuckle of amusement but eventually he heard the clicking of a few switches.

“There. I forgot you are probably going to be sensitive to light for a bit. Concussions do that to people, and you had a pretty nasty one.” Edward tentatively opened one eye and winced at the gently daylight streaming through the window. It stung his eyes, but with the lights off, the pain was manageable. He blinked his eyes a couple times and slowly let his unfocused vision adjust. However, when his eyes finally straightened themselves out he finally thought that he was seeing things. There was a kid sitting next to him, probably no older than he was, smiling eagerly in his pajamas. Everything was fine except for the fact that he was entirely green. Edward closed his eyes once more and opened them thinking that maybe it would go away, but no. The kid remained green.

“How hard did I hit my head again?” Edward asked.

“I don’t know. Pretty hard I guess, but Raven is taking care of it. Why? Does it still hurt?”

“You’re…. You’re green.” The kid looked down at himself as if to make sure that Edward was not just pulling his leg.

“Yes?” he said, not sure as to what Edward was trying to tell him. Edward opened his mouth to elaborate but closed it after a moment’s thought. Maybe it was normal to be green there? Wherever there was.

“Where… am I?” he asked after he realized that he had no clue where on earth he was. He remembered the homunculi had transported them for weeks though he didn’t know how or where as they were kept locked up throughout the entire trip. He could only guess that wherever he was, it was a very far way from home.

“You are in Jump City, Titan’s Tower. We brought you here after I found you in the sewers. You were really beaten up-“

“Where is Jump City?” Edward felt his mouth run dry as he saw the green boy pause in confusion.

“America?” That now clicked in Edward’s mind. When he was younger, he worked with his brother to research different country’s alchemic credibility to help with their studies. They wanted to narrow down the texts they were reading while still keeping open to other nation’s alchemical approaches. America was a large country far west on all their maps. It was the least of his concern having only 0.1% credibility in their alchemic ability. They had no published research that could possibly help them with the stone so Edward had greatly disregarded it until now. Out of every country they possibly could have landed in, it was the one with the least amount of knowledge of their work. It was the last place anyone would expect a philosopher’s stone. Even more so, if Edward tried to warn people, they would not believe a single word he said. With such little alchemic skill there, he might as well be pulling rabbits out of a hat. Father really had thought everything through.

“God, damn it,” Edward moaned as he dropped his head into his hand and furiously started to massage the headache away.

“Is everything alright?” the kid asked but he only shook his head.

“No. It’s not. I need to leave. Now.”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Edward heard a familiar voice say. He looked up to see a dark haired kid in a mask standing in the doorway of the hospital ward. He was wearing a ridiculous red shirt and green pants. Edward couldn’t tell if that was one step better than the green kid in the pajamas or not. Fashion in America was strange.

“What do you mean I am not going anywhere?” he asked but paused as he looked beside him. The green kid looked tense and very not happy at the new person’s arrival. “What’s going on?”

“We have some questions for you and you are not going to leave until they are answered.”

“Robin, come on! Give him a break. You can’t expect someone to just wake up and be interrogated like a poacher!” the green boy exclaimed but the other kid wouldn’t budge. He stood there with his arms crossed and ignored the pleas of his friend.

“Beast boy, wait outside. That’s an order,” Robin commanded. Edward watched as after a hesitation, the boy stormed out of the room and waited in the hallway. He noticed that the kid did not go too far. He stood out by the observation window and watched their conversation carefully. Edward found himself grow very cautious. He did not like being alone with him. The kid, now known as Robin, had taking to scowling at him from the foot of his bed. He could feel his eyes burn holes through him even through the opaque mask he was wearing.

“Who are you?” he asked finally, breaking the deadly silence.

“Talk about bedside manner,” Edward huffed. “Why should I answer to you? You aren’t in the military or anything. At least, I hope your military doesn’t wear uniforms like that.” He only managed to piss the hot head off.

“I am Robin, from the Teen Titans, and I am the asking questions. Now answer. Who are you?”

“Never heard of you. And if this is an official interrogation, by regulation the only thing I can tell you is my name, rank and organization. So, I am Major Edward Elric, an Amestrian State Alchemist. Now that this is over, can I please have my arm and leg back? I need to go.” He heard an animalistic growl come from Robin. He was furious he was dodging his questions. In Edward’s defense, he didn’t even know why they were interrogating him in the first place.

“You mean to tell me you are in the military?” Robin asked in disbelief. He nodded his head. “Then what are you doing all the way in the United States? The sewers none the less?”

“I am an alchemist. I work off the principals of equivalent exchange. Currently, I have very little clue as to where I am, who you are, and what happened so far. So why don’t you answer a few of my questions so I can figure out what the hell is going on? Hmm?” Edward waited a rather long time for a response from the kid in front of him. Robin seemed rather reluctant to give him any information. With that, he could relate. But as long as they were on level grounds, maybe something could come of their exchange. After a moment, the kid crossed his arms and relented with a grumble. Edward was relieved that he had considered the bargain at all.

“What do you want to know?”

“Who are you guys? I thought I was in a hospital, but there is no way that the entire staff is made up of teenagers in goofy pajamas.”

“These are not pajamas!” Robin screeched. “We are the Teen Titans, a team of heroes that watch over this city. We found you in the sewers when we were trying to stop a criminal and brought you back here. It is out job to protect it at all costs and from any possible threat. Currently, you are looking to be our newest one.”

“Me? You must be joking. _I was the one kidnapped_! I don’t want to be in America where they have a group of teenagers parading around in their underpants! At least back home I wear normal clothes while acting like a hero!” There was a spout of laughter and they both looked to see the green kid, Beast boy, doubled over on the other side of the observation window laughing at his own friend’s expense. He was green and really in his pajamas, but he wasn’t wearing a cape. Robin turned red which really downplayed the intimidation factor of his interrogation.

“From where I stand, we found a suspicious character chained in the city’s underground for reasons we do not know. It doesn’t matter if we are kids. We protect this city and I will see that nothing comes to harm it. If you are withholding information on any possible danger, I will have to look at you as a threat. Now before you said our city was in danger. Why and by whom?” Robin ordered. He stood tall as if to prove a point but Edward was very unamused. He didn’t really believe Robin was a ‘hero’. He wasn’t associated with any organization it seemed. To him, these kids were just pretending to be freelancing vigilantes. If he told them about Father and the stone, they would either think he was crazy and disregard him or go off and try and battle Father themselves for the sake of heroism. Unless backed up by a State Alchemist or a league of soldiers, they wouldn’t stand a chance against even one homunculus. Remembering Hughes, Edward didn’t want any more people to get involved than there had to be. It was pure luck that Father had called Envy out of the room when he did or else, he was sure that all of these self-proclaimed heroes wouldn’t have made it out of the underground alive.

“There is nothing anyone can possibly do to stop it right now. We have unleashed an army upon them and it barely did anything. If you fight against them without any skilled alchemists, which this country greatly lacks, it will be a massacre no matter the numbers. Until I rescue the Colonel and my brother, there is nothing we can do. Now give me back my arm and my leg.” If he could rescue the Colonel and his brother, they would leave Father without any human sacrifices in his grip. In a country with no alchemic prowess, he would be in sore luck to get more. He might be able to get into contact with Amestris and pull over whoever was still standing from the last battle. Maybe, they could stop him this second time. Robin, however, was not happy with this answer.

“I have two of my friends down in the underground looking for these missing people of yours. If they are in any danger-“

“You what?!” Edward exclaimed in horror. It seemed that these kids had weaseled their way into his problems whether he liked it or not. Now they had two people down in the sewers with several homunculi lurking about. They didn’t know what they were dealing with. Edward wondered how they even knew that more people were down there but he guessed that he might have let something slip in his hysteria. He never meant for this to happen. Edward jolted up in bed and flung the blankets off of him.

“Give me my automail _now_.”

“Not until you tell us what is going on.”

“Your friends are down there running around with literal monsters and you are standing here asking stupid questions?! Give me my automail! We need to go get them!” Edward was desperate for him to listen but the kid refused to even budge.

“If you don’t tell us what is going on down there, we have other ways of getting this information that I would rather not use,” Robin threatened. Edward scowled. That kid was really trying to intimidate him?

“And what are you going to do? Hit me? I think you already have seen what I can take considering the state you found me in,” he seethed. Robin scowled at him. It seemed he was done asking questions. That was good because Edward was rather done answering them. The kid pulled out a small round object and opened it up. There was a small beep and Edward heard a voice from the other side.

“Yes?” a girl’s voice drawled.

“Raven, I need you.” The instant Robin snapped the communicator shut a pool of darkness encompassed the floor. Edward found himself breathless as a girl with dark hair rose out from the shadows. His eyes widened in shock and he found himself unable to move. She was floating.

“What the hell?” Edward breathed as he watched her. He recognized her as the girl that helped him when he previously woke up but now he couldn’t believe what he saw. Was she a homunculus like Pride? That was impossible. How was she doing this? Robin gave her a stern nod and she returned with a rather reserved look as she began muttering some enchantments. Edward inched back ever so slowly as he did not want her to come any closer. However, she was not moving, the shadows around her were. Seeing what was going on, the green kid rushed into the room to try and stop her, but it was too late.

“Azarath Metrion Zinthos!” Edward heard her cry and the shadows that surrounded her shot towards him at ungodly speeds. The darkness then drowned him, and it felt like he was suffocating. Fingers pricked his mind and urged him to open up. Edward struggled to block them out. He did not want them to get in.

“ _We only want to help you,”_ Edward heard the voice echo through his head as the darkness continued to pry at him. _“We have some people looking for your friends. We just need to know if they are in danger. We don’t want anyone else to get hurt. Don’t you want to help us find your brother?”_ Edward froze as he remembered his brother and the danger he was in. He wanted desperately to save him and the Colonel, but he was so weak and injured. The only thing he would accomplish by going back down there was to get captured again. All of this would be in vain and he was so helpless to stop any of it.

In Edward’s despair, the girl found the lever and pried his mind open at the seams. Edward let out a cry as he saw his own locked away memories fly out into the light of day. He saw Father and his sins reply themselves throughout the Promised day like an old movie reel. He remembered seeing Pride’s shadows twisted and withering inside of his brother’s body, holding him down. He tried to stop him but they were each taken down one by one and locked away. Edward desperately kicked out at the darkness and struggled to make it release him. The images flashing through his head returned to the Father absorbing a thousand souls then skipped like a broken record to the Colonel stumbling around in the darkness. The farther the claws of darkness hooked into his mind, the farther it took him. Blood, death, war. It flashed through his mind until eventually, it paused in the white expanse that Edward feared so much. He stared face to face with the body of his brother and for a second Edward found himself stop struggling. His brother’s emancipated body smiled at him exactly how he remembered it. Worn ragged and thin, but still strong. He felt his breath hitch as he saw his brother how he should have been. As Edward was relishing in the memory and thought, the darkness took hold of him once more and steered him back on course. He kicked and bucked, trying to get it to let him go.

“Get out,” he growled. “Get out. GET OUT!” Edward pushed back with all of his might and the shadows were ripped from him. He screamed as he was thrown back into the room that he had been in previously. His mind reeled and he was left breathless and gasping for hair. His heart felt like it was racing ten miles above him as fear raced through his veins. Every muscle in his being was trembling and shaking. The fear he felt drove him to anger as he glared at the girl who violated his mind.

“What the hell was that?” he snarled. With his quaking arm, Edward forced himself to sit up in the bed and he sent the most fowl glare at Raven. She was laying on the floor, holding her head as if what she was looking at was too much for her to handle. He bet it was. “What the fuck did you just do? None of that concerns you!”

“Raven are you alright?” Robin asked. The girl nodded her head as she slowly stood up from the floor.

“Yeah, it was just a little too much to take in at once but I found everything.” Robin motioned towards the door and offered her a supportive had as he started to lead her out of the room. They were taking his thoughts and running. Edward seethed and cursed at them.

“I told you not to mess with this! It’s nothing you want to get involved with! Get back here and answer me goddamn it! This is anything but equivalent!” Edward shouted but his words were lost as the door closed and shut him off in the quiet room. They were done.

………

“Raven! How could you do that?” Beast Boy scolded his friend as they exited the hospital ward. He had been watching Robin through the viewing window for the longest time and was very concerned at the rate at which the conversation was headed. The instant he saw Raven begin her mantra, he was enraged. He didn’t care how desperately Robin wanted that information. Edward had just woken up. He was confused and defensive. How dare they thought it was right to forcefully enter someone’s mind like that. He was actually surprised Raven agreed. She hated using her powers like. Being a very private person herself, she knew to respect other’s secrets. She had said it was only for dire circumstances. The way she was avoiding his eyes as they headed towards the Ops room a few floors above told him that Raven was ashamed of what she did too.

“It had to be done Beast Boy,” Robin cut him off as he tried to defend Raven.

“No it didn’t! You said only dire circumstances! He probably didn’t even know we had any powers. Didn’t you see how scared he was? How could you do this to him?” Robin opened his mouth to argue further but Beast Boy would not have it. “I don’t want to hear it from you. I want to hear it from her.”

There was a long silence as all of them shuffled into the elevator. Raven looked worn and absent minded. She probably was still processing everything she had seen. For how long she had stayed connected with Edward, she probably had gotten more than she had bargained for. A person had a lot more to hide than one knew and she had probably seen a good deal of it. It had to be rough on her to have to contemplate it for that long, but Beast Boy reasoned it was probably worse for Edward. Eventually as the elevator jolted upwards, Raven had cleared her mind enough to answer him.

“It had to be done,” she breathed.

“Excuse me?” he scoffed as if he didn’t hear her right. He couldn’t believe that she would say that. However, her dark blue eyes finally turned towards him. Around the shame and confusion, she only held conviction. She was not wavering.

“It had to be done, Beast Boy,” she repeated sternly. “I saw it all and the entire city, possibly even the entire country is in danger. The person who locked him underneath there is….” She hesitated and massaged her head in frustration. It seemed she couldn’t believe what she had seen, or rather didn’t want to. Beast boy rarely saw her get frustrated. She knew very well how to calm herself in nearly any situation. This had to be bad. He set a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“What are they trying to do?” he asked quietly, trying to cover the anxiety that filled his own voice. He wasn’t a brave person and would never claim to be. But when Raven got nervous, everyone had the right to be too.

“To make a philosopher’s stone.”


	4. The Colonel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Teen Titans find Mustang

Philosopher’s Travels

Chapter Four

The Colonel

“Wait, wait, wait,” Beast Boy waved for probably the umpteenth time that evening. “You are telling me, that this guy is going to such every living soul out of the country?” He saw the back of Raven’s head nod as she poured herself another cup of tea. She was obviously still shaken or else she wouldn’t have made her third cup. Beast boy now realized that they all had a good reason to be worried. Their whole city was in danger from a form of magic none of them knew about. Edward was right. They really didn’t know what they were up against. Robin was pacing back and forth through the Ops room.

“The information that I get from things like this isn’t clear as day. It’s like looking at a box of photographs and having to place them in order,” she explained to him. “I don’t know much about alchemy, very little actually, to fill in too many of the gaps. However, from what I can gather that is it and Edward and his friends are some how the keys to it all happening. He was right in stating that we need to get them out of there. Maybe if we can do that and keep them safe we can stop this all from happening.”

Raven only went over the basics of what she saw, which might have been a good thing. Edward’s privacy was held not solely in her hands and at least she respected boundaries enough not to tell them everything. Beast Boy was rather relieved for many reasons that she wasn’t going as in depth as she probably could have. For one, if she did, Robin’s sting of questions probably would lead to more and Beast Boy didn’t think he could stop him from trying to interrogate Edward again. Secondly, from what Raven told them, he could only imagine what images she would have to see to draw such a horrific conclusion. It was unsettling for them, and obviously disturbed Raven more than she was letting on.

“Starfire and Cyborg are down there now looking for these people. Who knows if they are going to run into one of those monsters you were talking about or not. We need to know how to take them down,” Robin said tensely.

“He said that we shouldn’t get involved. Alchemy appears to be a very important key in the mixture and none of us know it. We are going to need his help to do this.”

“Yeah, and I doubt asking him nicely will work half as well as it did the last time, thanks to you,” Beast Boy muttered. “He doesn’t want our help.”

“He doesn’t know what we can do. And it doesn’t matter what he wants, we are already involved having Starfire and Cyborg down there,” Robin countered. “If we need an alchemist we got him. He said he was a state alchemist of some sort, whatever that is. Once he gets back on his feet-“

“You mean once you give him his leg back,’ Beast boy corrected him only to earn a glare.

“Yes, once that happens and Starfire and Cyborg return we can coordinate where to go from there.”

“Let’s just hope we hear from them soon,” Raven hummed. They all nodded their heads. Though Cyborg and Starfire were two of the strongest Titans, they worried about them. It has been several hours since they had first left the tower on the rescue mission. Hearing what Raven had told them really got their nerves going. Beast Boy kept telling himself that they have been through worse. They fought an immortal demon at the apocalypse for peat sake! But that still did not mean that what they were doing was easy. Beast Boy had half a mind to go down into the sewers after them.

Just as his nerves were at their peak, there was a sudden loud ringing that shattered the tense silence between them. Beast boy shamefully jumped out of his skin at the abrupt sound as Robin went to answer his communicator. Starfire’s voice greeted them from the other side and Beast boy immediately jumped behind Robin so he could see how she was doing. To put it plainly, she was looking worn. A day in the sewers had accumulated a fair amount of grime over her and he could only imagine the smell. At least she didn’t have his sensitive animal senses.

“Friends, we got someone. We found him locked up in some sort of closet.”

“Where are you heading now? Are you hurt at all?” Robin asked but she simply shook her head.

“No, I and Cyborg are well but….. the man…. He’s stumbling around like he’s in the dark. It’s strange-“

“Young lady, I am blind, not deaf,” a new rather deep voice answered off screen. It was shaky and tired so they all had to guess it was one of Edward’s Amestrian friends. Starfire moved closer to the others so that they were in view of the communicator’s camera. Cyborg was holding a rather tall dark haired man by the shoulders and was guiding him carefully down the sidewalk. His blue military uniform was torn and filthy, though he didn’t look much better. He was covered in grime and dirt and was in desperate need of a shave. The distant and unfocused look in his eyes shocked Beast Boy to no end. He really was blind.

“I am Colonel Roy Mustang,” the man introduced after Starfire told him that he was on the phone. “I heard you had my subordinate? How is he?”

“Ummm, he has a concussion, some bruising and a broken rib here and there. But he’s well enough to attempt to walk. He’s nearly fallen out of bed twice already,” Beast Boy chuckled nervously. He was expecting the man to be worried about Edward, but Beast Boy only saw a huge smirk spread across his face.

“Well, he’s doing better than alright then. I expect Fullmetal told you what was going on?”

“More or less?” he hesitated as he took a nervous glance over to Raven. His pause seemed to spark something in the man making him frown.

“Alright, thank you,” he said quickly though proceeded to hold no further conversation. It seemed he caught on that ‘more or less’ meant very much less than it did more. He appeared to trust Edward, or ‘Fullmetal’ a lot to be on the same page as him.

“Starfire, Cyborg, did you guys run into any trouble down there?” Robin asked.

“Yeah. I have no clue what it was. It came out of nowhere but the Colonel here helped us out. Got out fine but whatever that thing was its still kicking,” Cyborg answered.

“Robin, we are heading back now. We will be there in a little bit,” Starfire said and quickly signed off. The communicator went black and Robin shut it down. The room went silent for a rather long time. Beast Boy flopped down as a sudden wave of exhaustion came over him.

“He’s blind,” he muttered pathetically. “A blind man in the military. Can they get any stranger?” He looked over to Raven for help but she shook her head. She didn’t understand it either. Aside from the absurdity of it, they could all say they were glad that their friends mission was not only successful, but they were all safe as well. It was a relief to hear from them at that point. But now came the real question.

“What do we do now?” Raven asked as she sat down next to him. Robin shoved the communicator back into his pocket and began pacing once more. Where Beast Boy and Raven began to relax, Robin was only the more frustrated.

“We wait till they come back. Cyborg can finish up with Edward’s limbs and then we can get the answers we want,” Robin replied.

…….

All Roy could do was guess. He guessed that he was in a closet of some sort judging by the shelves he kept bumping into. He guessed he was in the sewers by the grimy cement walls and the smell that seeped through the door. And he could only guess that he was being held captive in some unknown country very very far away from his team and trusted subordinates. Roy’s heart ached. The Promised Day was a battle that held very high stakes. He didn’t get to see the end of it, for obvious reasons, but he knew there was no such thing as a war without casualties. The only thing he could do was hope that his team was alright because currently, he was not.

Roy felt something slither across his bound hands and he felt himself involuntarily flinch. Even though he couldn’t see, he knew there had to be a small amount of light filtering into the room or else the shadows wouldn’t be moving. He did not hear Selim, so he knew it was only his shadows that haunted his prison. For the first time since he was abandoned and locked in the room, a homunculus was appointed to him for guard duty. He did not know why but he had to assume it was Fullmetal’s doing.

“Selim, I thought you wouldn’t have thought me a threat,” Roy mused as he pulled his shackles closer to himself. He really was not a threat without his vision even if they had practically put him in a room full of ammunition. He was locked in some sort of electrical or utility closet. There were light bulbs, wires, and bottles of heavy cleaners. When he was first placed in the room, he had taken the liberty to feel around and explore his small little prison. Sniffing the bottles of solution, he could conclude that one was a container of ammonia bleach and the other was oil. If he could have seen he could have made deadly use of everything in the room. He did not even need a transmutation circle anymore because of seeing the gate. Unfortunately, his hands were bound tight and even though he was sure he could draw a transmutation circle with one of the tools in there, without his sight he could barely draw a smiley face. If he attempted a draw complex transmutation circle, or even a simple one for that matter, he would most likely blow himself up in the process. Not only that but not being able to see what he was transmuting really put a damper on things. Out of everyone the homunculi had probably captured, he was the least of their concerns.

Judging by the sharp smack across the back of the head he received, Pride also didn’t like the idea that he was guarding him.

“If anything, you are simply amusing to watch stumbling around,” he heard the devilish voice of the shadows taunt him.

“You haven’t dealt with me since you put me here, though I am glad for the conversation. It gets quite boring being here by myself.”

“Gluttony was usually fairly close by. You are lucky he did not try to eat you yet. Father had us switch places.“

“To protect the weakling because he would be the easiest person to save. Fullmetal escaped, didn’t he?” Roy mused. That was the only explanation why they would put one of the strongest homunculi to guard him. Pride was best suited to guard Alphonse. With the younger Elric’s metal body, he was a very hard person to keep down. Restraints and chains, with a little work could be broken, but Pride’s shadows could freeze Alphonse from the inside out should he try to do anything. There was no other reason for Pride to be guarding a helpless blind soldier.

Pride was not amused by his assumption and Roy suddenly felt something tighten around his chest. The air was squeezed out of his lungs and it felt like his rib cage was about to pop. He nearly choked on his own breath as he attempted to pry at the shadows.

“This just proves I’m right,” Roy wheezed before he felt himself get lifted into the air just to be slammed down hard to the ground. He gasped as the shadows released him and oxygen flooded his airways. He coughed and sputtered as he tried to regain himself. There was a disgusted scoff.

“You humans don’t know anything.” Roy was going to retort, though he knew he was doing nothing but irritating the boy, when he suddenly heard a noise. It was above the hum of the generator, the live wires, and the roar of his own breath. It was the first real thing he had heard from the outside world since he was put in that small room and it sounded like footsteps. Roy perked his head up and he felt the shadows do the same. Especially since he couldn’t see, the new sound peaked his interest. It couldn’t have been another homunculus with the way that Pride’s shadows were reacting to it.

He felt them slide across his chest and quickly anchor him down to the wall for security. They slithered tightly around him and he felt them inch up towards his throat. Pride was doing his best to restrain him from doing something stupid. Whoever was out there, the homunculus obviously didn’t like it that they were there. Voices broke out through the darkness and Roy listened to them carefully.

“Cyborg, we have been walking these sewers forever, how do you know we will find anyone?” he heard a young woman’s voice say.

“Starfire, my sensors are picking up someone. They need to be nearby,” a man replied. The footsteps drew closer to the door and stopped in front of it. “The signal’s telling me someone’s in there.” There was a rattle as the door was tried but found to be locked.

“Hello? Is there anyone in there?” Roy opened his mouth to respond but he felt the shadows around his throat tighten. He choked on his words and the only thing that came out was a gargled breath.

“Shh,” he heard Pride’s shadows hum as they tightened around him and covered his mouth. There was another rattle as the door shook again.

“Maybe they’re not in there. We should continue-“

“My sensors can’t be wrong. Someone has to be in there. Maybe they are hurt. Stand back, I am going to blast the door down.”

“Cyborg- EEK!” There was a scream and the ground suddenly shook beneath him as he heard loud explosions happening from the other side of the door.

“What is this?!” the woman exclaimed.

“I don’t know! I can’t hit it!” Roy could only imagine that what they were fighting were other extensions of Pride’s shadows. He struggled against the bonds that held him down but it was no use, they held him strong. He could feel the earth tremor beneath him. Whoever these people were, they didn’t come unprepared. They were putting up a loud and very dangerous fight.

Though Pride was a strong homunculus, Roy knew that he was very distant from the actual scene which limited his abilities. In addition, whatever the two strangers were using, it was highly explosive. There had to be a decent amount of light emitted from it. He remembered how flash grenades could scatter the darkness of Pride’s shadows. Shadows couldn’t exist where there was light, but bright flashes can’t last long. Once they fade the shadow can take over. The best way to deal with shadows were to plunge them in darkness so they couldn’t form. He only could hope the strangers would realize this.

“Starfire, my sonic cannon can’t do anything, keep up your light bolts.”

“I don’t think it’s enough.”

“Do your best. I will break the door down,” the man said. “Whoever you are in there, if you can hear me, stand back!” Roy would have listened if he had the option to move but the shadows were still around him. There was a loud blast and the sound of metal bending a snapping hit Roy’s hears like a lightning bolt. He felt heavy chunks of wall fly past him. If he wasn’t so tight against the wall, he probably would have been decapitated. The instant the door was off, Roy felt the shadows around him shoot out towards the entrance. The boy yelped and shot back in surprise. Roy felt the impulse of a rather heavy blast fly right past his cheek. The shadows around him flinched back to preserve themselves and loosened their grip. Roy writhed beneath them. The instant he felt his airways become freed he screamed.

“Turn off the lights!” he yelled at them.

“Who-“

“Turn off the damn lights! Do it!” Roy argued as he fought pathetically for his freedom. He felt the shadows quickly snatch him back up again. This time they left no room for even a breath of air to enter him. His chest began to spasm as he clawed for air. Pride was either going to kill him or suffocate him till he passed out. Roy couldn’t tell which it would be because he didn’t know what the homunculus would be willing to do in such a situation. Tears stung his eyes as he struggled for air.

Right before he could suffocate, there was a loud blast from inside the closet and suddenly the shadows around him disappeared. He collapsed to the grimy floor as air rushed to his lungs. A horrible croaking noise escaped him as he gulped greedily for the air. Loud foot steps clomped over to him and he felt a stiff metal hand rest on his back and quickly turn him to his side.

“Are all of them out?” Roy coughed, wiping the tears from his eyes. He was just beginning to believe Pride was going to kill him.

“I blasted the breakers. It’s a good thing we are in an electrical closet,” he heard the deep voice say light heartedly. “Are you alright?” Roy nodded his head and he felt himself get hauled to his feet. He was strong he would give him that. Roy staggered to gain his balance but nearly tripped over what he could imagine was the remains of the door.

“We need to go before Pride decides to send someone else,” he said. “I can’t see. Do you know the way out?”

“Yeah, I have night vision in my eye. There is a manhole just ahead. Come on.” A pair of large hands suddenly wrapped themselves around Roy’s shoulders and he felt his feet being swept out from underneath him. He shamefully yelped in surprise as the kid carried him out of the room.

“Starfire, you grab on too. I know you can’t see.” Roy felt another pair of hands slide beside him and he could only imagine that the other person was hanging onto the man’s back. He felt like a pathetic burden having to be carried, but knowing that there was someone else beside him who also needed help was reassuring. It really was dark down there and Pride was defenseless.

They began moving quickly out of the battlefield and up the sewers. Roy listened to the heavy thudding of the man’s footsteps against the concrete. He could not believe he was finally leaving.

“How did you know I was down here?” His voice jerked suddenly as the tall man jumped over something.

“Cyborg has some strange sensing equipment,” the woman said.

“I traced your heart rate to the sewers. We found your friend-“

“Fullmetal?”

“The blond kid?”

“Yeah that’s him. How is he? How did you-“ Roy started but they suddenly stopped. The man, now known as Cyborg, carefully lowered him and Roy cautiously slipped his feet to the ground. There was another thud as another pair of feet hit the pavement. That must have been the woman, Starfire, Roy guessed. He felt something metal wrap around his wrist and for a second Roy wanted to pull back but then he recognized it as being like Fullmetal’s grip. It was automail. That would explain why his arms were so strong. There was a loud snapping of metal and suddenly the stocks that his hands were placed in clattered to the floor. Roy shook out his wrists and felt the soothing air caress them. This was it. He really was free.

“I will go up the hole first to open the cover and you follow behind me. It’s still daylight out so we need to make this fast. Watch your step,” the man warned him. Roy chuckled to himself. Yes. He will definitely watch his step when he was blind. A hand guided his own to a metal pole: a ladder, before he heard the clanking of steps as the man began climbing. It sounded like he was wearing metal boots. AS the footsteps grew higher and higher above him there was a nudge in his ribs.

“You can go up now,” Starfire told him softly. Roy slowly found his footing on the ladder and stumbled to find the pacing of the steps. He climbed steadily towards freedom, or at least where he hoped it would lay.

There was a loud grinding noise as the cover was slipped off and Roy felt a splash of warmth spread across his face. It was the sun. Cars beeped loudly above them and he heard people’s voices chattering down the streets. He was underneath a city, and by the sound of it a large one. There was another prod on his leg and he realized that he had stopped moving forward. With a quick apology, he scrambled to find a hold at the top of the manhole and pulled himself out.

“Come on, follow us. We will take you somewhere safe,” he heard the man order. The cover to the underground was slid back into place and he heard the heavy metal footsteps begin to walk away but Roy found himself unable to move. Here he was, free at last after what was probably months in captivity, and he couldn’t move a single inch to enjoy it. As much as he was relishing in the noise and tiny sensations he was feeling after so long in the sewers, they were disorienting. There was too much traffic and noise. He couldn’t even begin to guess the distance between him and road versus the sidewalk.

“Where are you?” Roy asked as he heard the woman begin to talk to someone a little way away. “Where did you go?” He spun around to where he thought she was but a hand gently rested on his shoulder. Roy was ashamed to admit that he tensed up but once he felt the cool metal, he realized it was the man Cyborg.

“We are right here. Don’t worry. Are you good?” There was a short-confused pause as Roy let the situation dawn on him. The man began sputtering in shock. “You-You’re blind? But-“ Roy nodded his head in confirmation. He realized that when he originally said that he couldn’t see, it had been in a pitch black room. He guess he hadn’t quite gotten the point across.

“Yes, I am still getting used to it,” he admitted. “But could help me so we can get going? I would rather not hang around here long. I don’t think they would try anything in broad daylight, but I don’t know how desperate they are after two of their sacrifices escaped.”

“S-sacrifices?” Cyborg trembled. Roy nodded his head and reached out for his hand. He fumbled for air before he felt the security of two metal hands resting on his shoulders. “R-right. Let’s go. I got you,” the boy told him as if sensing his tension. It now seemed that no body wanted to hang around the sewers for much longer. Cyborg began guiding him down the street. Roy stepped slowly and deliberately as he did not fully trust the sidewalk to be even with every step. He must have looked ridiculous. Ridiculous but free.

“I think Starfire is calling our friend Robin. We’ll take you back to the tower and let you recover some in sickbay.”

 _“The man keeps stumbling around like he’s in the dark. It’s strange-“_ Roy heard the woman say to someone not too far off.

_“Young lady, I am blind not deaf. I just can’t see.”_


End file.
